The new HFP chat thread – Tuesday 24th March

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• Secret Squirrel says:

  24 Mar24 March 17:11

  Tesco Pet Insurance points – we’ve hit 36x days and no points posted.
  What’s the average time period others have seen points post recently?

  • Shoestring says:

    24 Mar24 March 17:20

    not recent but it was just about 35 days exactly for 3 of us

  • fivebobbill says:

    24 Mar24 March 21:01

    Day 37 here and no points either…

• Brasov says:

  24 Mar24 March 17:16

  Harry, how are the morrisons gift cards going for you now on petrol? I’ve been refused a few times now.

  • Shoestring says:

    24 Mar24 March 17:19

    I used them a few days ago & so did my wife, no problems though we did have to explain there’s now a Morrisons Giftcard button on the till, press it then scan giftcard (new procedure for the staff)

    is it just that the staff don’t know what to do?

    • Brasov says:

      24 Mar24 March 17:25

      I guess so. They press the Gift Card button, and then it comes up with “Manual Entry Not Allowed”. So they give up at that point. Apparently it’s a totally new till system. They did say paper vouchers are still OK.

      • Andy says:

        24 Mar24 March 17:57

        I’m guessing they were trying to tap in the Gift Card Number rather than scanning it?

• Shoestring says:

  24 Mar24 March 17:38

  Since it’s Chat thread! so if you remember my computer went phut in the night 2 weeks ago or so – nothing showing at all on start up – looked like the power supply unit to my uneducated eyes so I took it to a local shop, the guy tested it and said I was right so he ordered the part and fitted it a few days later. £40 all in, not sure you’d get that in London! The PSU must have cost £20+ plus I don’t think it was quite as simple as plug out old one, plug in new one.

  Anyway, got my old faithful machine back. (Remember to back up data, folks).

  • BJ says:

    24 Mar24 March 17:52

    If you’d get something more modern you wouldn’t need to remember Harry.

    • Shoestring says:

      24 Mar24 March 18:05

      tell me how that works

      automatic data saving to the cloud or some such?

      and payable?

      I have a couple of separate external/ portable SSDs that I use to back up data (if I remember, so maybe twice a year!)

      • BJ says:

        24 Mar24 March 19:14

        Don’t know what your laptop is but in addition to dropbox as suggested by Rob have a look at onedrive or google drive.. If your kids also have windows laptops you may have or could look into an Office 360 Home subscription as this comes with 1TB storage for free, up to five devices.

        • Rob says:

          24 Mar24 March 20:20

          Yes, cheapest option is arguably Office 360 Home with the OneDrive storage. I had Dropbox before we moved to Office 360 Home which is why I never switched but both do the same job, as does Google Drive.

          In simple terms …. you get a folder on your laptop called Dropbox. It looks like any other folder and the files are physically on your laptop. Any change you make to this folder gets copied to a clone of your Dropbox folder in the cloud and copies automatically to your other machines when you turn them on next.

          Also works well if you only have 1 computer, as you get a cloud back-up of everything you own. Buy a new laptop and all your files are automatically installed as soon as you add Dropbox.

  • Rob says:

    24 Mar24 March 18:58

    What I do is put everything in Dropbox. This essentially clones my laptop x 3 across all my machines and gives total protection against loss or damage to any single machine. I can also access files on my phone if needed vis their app.

    • Shoestring says:

      24 Mar24 March 21:14

      I’ll explore all that, thanks

• Shoestring says:

  24 Mar24 March 18:50

  Fancy that!

  [Japan Olympics to be delayed for one year
  After a conference call between the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, and the International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, the Olympics will be postponed for 12 months. Abe said a postponement was unavoidable if the 2020 Games could not be held in a complete manner amid the coronavirus pandemic.]

• Jack says:

  24 Mar24 March 19:21

  BA is currently showing availability in FIRST for domestic LHR-EDI in a A319. This is a mistake surely?

  specifically BA1448 on 27/03

  • BJ says:

    24 Mar24 March 19:23

    Might be their new private jet service 🙂

• Mike says:

  24 Mar24 March 20:32

  I have a Virgin Reward flight from MAN to JFK on 9 Apr returning 12 April. Obviously the flight will not now go ahead and no longer shows in the schedules, but it still shows as ‘on time’ on my account. When is it likely to be formally cancelled, triggering a return of miles / tax refund? I’m not sure I can face hours on the phone to Virgin – will they just contact me eventually?

• RK says:

  24 Mar24 March 21:32

  Unofficially AA now offering voucher + 20% instead of refund. This beats the AerLingus voucher + 10%.

• Novice says:

  24 Mar24 March 22:49

  I have already asked this before but I think nobody answered.

  I’m just curious; why are so many people having problems with flights. I know you have to book directly for redemptions but it seems a lot of people are asking about cash bookings too.

  Why has there been such a hassle for everyone. Is it because y’all booked directly or used no agents?

  I’m asking for science…

  • Novice says:

    24 Mar24 March 22:52

    I always book with agents and I keep getting emails from Etihad that they have rebooked me after cancelling but I’ve just ignored as I was told my agents are cancelling everyone’s holiday.

  • Rob says:

    24 Mar24 March 22:59

    It is far worse if you use a travel agent because your contract is with them and not with the airline. You are reliant on the agent arranging the refund, on which they earn nothing so you are bottom of the queue. At present, many have laid off staff so there is physically no-one to do your refund. You may then find that the agents T&Cs allow them to charge you a fat fee for processing your refund. If you’re really lucky, the agent will get your money back from BA and then promptly go bust, meaning you need to start a chargeback.

    Even in good days, using a travel agent is a mess because you can never call the airline. Any issues with your booking need to be routed via your agent.

    • Novice says:

      24 Mar24 March 23:05

      Well it’s Trailfinders and so far they’ve been good with information etc.

      I don’t see them going under and I have it in writing they will refund. Maybe I’m wrong but I like not having to call companies up for refunds.

      Maybe it’s risky but then again I’m a risky person.

      • Novice says:

        24 Mar24 March 23:08

        So Rob, from what you said I gather it’s because everyone here books directly as you didn’t really answer my initial question directly.

        • Rob says:

          24 Mar24 March 23:29

          The issue here is unique. In normal times, getting a refund for a cancelled flight if you booked direct is easy, but if you booked via an agent it is hard. The agent has to do some work which won’t earn them any money. Unsurprisingly they are not rushing around to help you.

          (Trailfinders is probably an exception here, to be fair, because they are excellent.)

          At the moment, because the airlines are trying to conserve cash, they are trying to avoid paying up to everyone – direct bookers and agent customers alike.

        • Novice says:

          24 Mar24 March 23:57

          Thanks for your detailed answer.

          I have always booked with Trailfinders and never had issues even when problems occur that’s why I don’t really know much.

          I don’t have a comparison with other agents I thought they are all probably easier.

      • Michael C says:

        25 Mar25 March 07:18

        I had it in writing from Flybe that my mum was arriving, but that never happened.

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